Working conditions are often problematic when nursing disabled patients. Lifting the patient is ergonomically difficult for the personnel. They are at risk for back injuries. Today, there are many kinds of auxiliary equipment available for transferring and lifting patients. Various lifting devices, for example mobile lifting devices on legs, bathroom lifters, hoists in the ceiling, etc. are commonly used. When the patient is dressed in a lifting vest, a one-piece garment or a sling, they are secured to a lifting device usually by means of straps. Thus, the patient is carried by the lifting sling and can be transferred to and from a wheelchair by means of the lifting device.
WO9415569 discloses a garment to be worn continuously, covering the body and upper legs. One drawback of prior art continuous wear garment is that the patient would have to wear it continuously during their waking hours. This would make it difficult to provide basic nursing care; personal hygiene care as well as treatments etc. Another drawback is patients with debilitating diseases such as arthritis and contractures would have difficulty putting on such a garment. Lastly, patients would have to have their own garment and this would not be cost effective for most facilities.
The lifting slings on the market at present e.g. (patent #CA 1288 379, U.K. 22234 77 A,U.K. 2184706 A, U.S. Pat. No. 2,920,480, U.S. Pat. No. 1,961,119, U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,410, U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,783, U.S. Pat. No. 2,792,052, U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,902, U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,029, U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,816, U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,594, U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,737, U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,284, U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,721, U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,412, U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,538, U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,257, U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,106, U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,670) usually have a four-point securing system for the supporting straps of the lifting device. Two of them in the shoulder region and two in the thigh region of the patient. Staff are very anxious and patients are very insecure and fearful when using these hammock style slings. The patients are too free to move side-to-side or fall forward, putting them at risk for injury. These hammock styled slings, cause the patient's body to be raised in a slouched position making it difficult for positioning into a wheelchair or onto a commode, causing discomfort to the patient by being positioned inappropriately. Staff members have difficulty and can cause strain on their backs in the process of trying to reposition the patient. The toilet sling which lifts under the arms and legs give no support on the lower back. The gravity of the patient's body weight pulls down on the sling that fits under the arms forcing the arms to raise unnaturally, possibly causing injury to the shoulder in the form of dislocation, fracture or are at risk of falling through.